1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to methods, computer-based systems and computer program products for storing documents, and in particular storing documents to an application service provider.
2. Discussion of the Background
With the ever increasing complexity of business relationships, the number of paper documents generated by individuals is increasing at a rapid rate. Therefore, it is becoming more and more necessary for corporations, small businesses and even households entering into such relationships to reduce and manage paper documents. To meet this demand, business owners and other individuals have recently turned to application service providers (ASPs) that can store and manage documents at a storage location remote to the user. This saves valuable physical and electronic storage space local to the user. Moreover, ASPs can provide the user with useful document management services.
However, in order to store the documents in an ASP, it is necessary for the user to put paper documents in electronic format for transmission and storage in the ASP. Moreover, the process of storing a document to an ASP typically involves interaction with an ASP web site in order to register with the ASP and establish storage files for storing the documents. Thus, using an ASP to store documents may require a variety of electronic equipment such as an optical scanning device to scan paper documents, a printer for printing documents, and an Internet ready computer, such as a PC, for connecting and interacting with the ASP. The present inventors have proposed an integrated system for managing documents that provides all of these features in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/684,965 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/839,221, filed on Apr. 23, 2001, for example, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
However, such an integrated system is expensive and therefore companies may provide a limited number of such devices as a resource for employees. Moreover, small businesses and family members running a household may not be able or willing to purchase such an integrated system or the separate components necessary to use ASP services. Where an ASP user does have all of the electronic equipment necessary for using an ASP, the process of storing a document may be a time consuming interactive process of accessing web page menus of the ASP. Moreover, this process may be complicated for individuals unfamiliar with using Internet resources.